We use Rackspace cloud servers for our applications. Specifically we are running Ubuntu 11.10 and our apps run on a virtual host. We get complaints frequently that our emails (using PHP mail) go directly to spam. We send our application mail out directly from our server. The from address domain is set as the originating TLD.

After some investigation it dawned on me that I never set an SPF Record for the domain. Currently I'm using this:

v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com ip4:50.56.228.156 ?all

but it doesn't seem to be working. 50.56.228.156 is the IP assigned to the server. I'm specifically looking for Mailed-by headers to show up in the emails being sent but they don't. We are using Bluehost. I don't have a lot of experience using Google Apps and TXT records so I'm not exactly sure what all I need to include in my record to get this working. Any help is appreciated.

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Are you using a mail relay or are you sending directly from your Cloud Server, quite a few Rackspace Cloud IP's are blacklisted and will show as spam due to the nature that the IP's are recycled. You can always log a ticket with Rackspace for advise on why you are having the issue
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TrozzJun 7 '13 at 12:19

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Don't send mail from something like EC2 or Rackspace Cloud. Spammers love them and their IP ranges are scorched earth for many ISPs. Use a third-party service like Mandrill, SendGrid, Postmark, etc. and let them worry about blacklists.
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ceejayozJun 7 '13 at 13:55

No one said that his IP was blocked. It was stated as a possibility. The reason that I use Mandrill is it's one less thing that I have to worry about when it comes to mail deliverability. They live, breath and eat this stuff 24/7. Also, with some cloud providers, like Azure, you are not going to have control over setting up the reverse DNS and that will become a problem as mail servers check this.
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Richard WestJun 7 '13 at 18:43

Indeed quite a few Rackspace IPs are blacklisted, and for good reason. Rackspace seems to do nothing about spammers who use their servers, and some reports say that are known as a spam haven. I get spam from Rackspace IPs on a daily basis, and have reported each instance of abuse through Spamcop, but of course to no avail.

I wonder if Rackspace has considered the impact on their business from allowing spammers and doing nothing about abuse reports, while at the same time having their IPs spam listed so that legitimate users have their emails black holed or filtered out?

Just a warning and something to consider if you are thinking of using Rackspace.